Swaggart preached that doctrine to an audience of about 150 people Sunday night at the Gateway Building on the Peoria riverfront. Though he had most of the crowd in tears or raising their arms with a boisterous "Hallelujah," Swaggart doesn't always get quite that reaction.

"What some people don't like is I am very straightforward," he said. "I do not beat around the bush."

But Swaggart doesn't mind criticism of his message or his bold preaching style.

"I believe I am 100 percent right in everything I preach," he said. "You all laugh, but I'm serious. I better be right or else none of us are making it."

Swaggart was invited to speak in central Illinois by Jon Wenger, pastor of Heritage Christian Centre in Peoria. Wenger said he began listening to SonLife Radio, owned and operated by the Swaggart family, in 2004 and was moved by the station's message.

"I wanted somebody here with the truth," Wenger said.

Members of Wenger's church and many from Champions Church in North Pekin made up some of the audience, but most of the crowd came on their own, Wenger said.

"Donnie's message is a message of the cross," said Jim Piper of Peoria, who nodded attentively and occasionally raised his hands in agreement of Swaggart's points. "It's about God's sacrifice for men."

Swaggart emphasized that religion is the greatest sin of all and far too many churches have lost touch with the message of repentance.

"You can go out tonight and make the biggest fool of yourself in Peoria, Ill. You can split your britches wide open," he said, as the audience laughed and applauded. "But if you have a heart of repentance, it never happened."

Many denominations, Swaggart said, teach that the solutions to life's problems can be solved by reading the Bible more often or fasting until "you can be pulled through a keyhole." But none of that is important as long as Jesus is in your heart.

"The message in many churches is that there are many ways to God," he said. "That's not true. The only way to get to the Father is through the Son."

Erin Wood can be reached at (309) 686-3194 or ewood@pjstar.com.

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